-The Free Press Journal Forced evictions to become history after 120 years New Delhi: The New Year ushered a new law replacing the 120-year old Land Acquisition Act 1894, ending to the government's powers of forcible acquiescing and assuring appropriate compensation to farmers with transparency. The Rural Development Ministry on Wednesday notified the rules framed under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act to bring...

-DNA Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that within one year amendments will be made to 13 central government laws for the effective implementation of new land acquisition law which came into effect from January 1. "From now onwards no land will be acquired or purchased on the basis of 1894 Act in which government was the sole decider and farmer did not have any say," said Jairam...

-The Hindustan Times Many ongoing projects including housing and industries will brace for an escalation in costs as the new land law has come into force on Wednesday. The much-touted Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Rehabilitation and Resettlement law-that provides four times hike in rural land price-will apply to all projects where compensations are yet to be given for land acquisition. Industries like the housing or hotels will be forced to...

-The Times of India KOLKATA: Prices of air-conditioners and refrigerators will increase by between Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,500 as early as next week due to stricter energy rating norms that will push up production costs. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the statutory energy conservation body under the power ministry, has tightened energy norms for air-conditioners by one level and those for refrigerators by two levels. This means, an existing five-star...

-The Times of India Ashok Khemka has become famous as a much-transferred IAS officer, but he is far from being the only one to have been shunted ever so often. An analysis of the executive record (ER) sheets of thousands of IAS officers currently in service reveals that frequent transfers are depressingly common. It shows that about two-thirds of the officers have had average tenures of 18 months or less. The analysis...